Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 23-year-old Jamarr Rainey of Buffalo has been sentenced by Acting State Supreme Court Justice Sheila A. DiTullio to a determinate sentence of 12 years in prison.

On November 23, 2018, at approximately 5 p.m., Rainey approached the victim while she was seated in her SUV that was parked on Cornwall Avenue in the City of Buffalo. The defendant displayed a handgun and forced the victim out of the vehicle. He then ripped off her gold necklace and drove off in her SUV. The victim called police and provided a description of the suspect.

Approximately three hours later, Buffalo Police officers observed the defendant driving the stolen vehicle on Parkside Avenue. In an effort to evade police, the defendant stopped the SUV and ran from the scene. After a brief search, the defendant, who matched the description provided by the victim, was apprehended a short distance away on Woodward Avenue. Officers found the gold necklace in Rainey’s jacket pocket.

A jury found Rainey guilty, as charged, of one count of Robbery in the First Degree, a Class “B” violent felony, following a five-day trial in September 2019.

DA Flynn commends Officers Courtney Tripp and Trevor Sheehan of the Buffalo Police Department for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Colin X. Fitzgerald and Lauren Nash of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau.